ELECTRICITY TRANSMISSION AND EU RULES FOR ENERGY SECTOR

This paper fi rst discusses features of the Third Energy Package” of EU legislation regarding electricity transmission system operators (TSOs), which has been in place since 2009. The Package envisages three different types of TSO organization: full ownership unbundling (OU), independent system operator (ISO), and independent transmission operator (ITO). The question of economic efficiency of the three possible settings occupies much of researchers’ attention. Here we argue that the results of basic economic analytical models depend critically on whether the regulatory function is deemed efficiently executed, or not. Next, challenges posed in front of TSOs by rapid decarbonization of power systems are briefly discussed, too. The main conclusion is that the answer to a question which of the three types of TSO organization from EU regulations is economically most effi cient depends on quality of regulator’s performance, which itself cannot be deemed (as often is in the literature) perfectly efficient

THE POTENTIAL OF INSTITUTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE: THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE INSTITUTIONAL CAREGIVERS

The best interest of the child should at all times be the primary guiding principle for the experts deciding matters of care. This ought to be implemented when the child is within the family, when the child is removed from the family, placed in institutional care, and when the child leaves the institutional care system. With the aim of contributing to the improvement of institutional care for children, and with the guiding principle of the child\u27s best interest, we have conducted a research project that included institutional caregivers (N=71) from all of Croatia\u27s 14 public institutions for children without parental care. The aim of the project was to determine the potential held by these institutions and the possibility of improving institutional care for children, with a view to preserve the best interest of the child, and from the point of view of the institutional caregiver. The data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire, and were processed using qualitative thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the institutional caregivers recognize certain positive aspects of the psychosocial climate - i.e. the state of interpersonal affairs, the institution\u27s space and activities, the institution\u27s surroundings and its community - as potential sources of improvement of care which could could be activated and could thus enhance the quality of provided care. Additionally, the institutional caregivers consider their working conditions as an area that requires improvement, as it would contribute to the provision of high-quality professional care and support to the children in their custody. Finally, there ought to be more work in the areas of transforming the institutions into the "family-like" type of accommodation, and in the general quality of the institutional psychosocial climate. All of this ought to be achieved keeping in mind the key aim of preserving the best interest of the child which is being placed into institutional care

THE POTENTIAL OF INSTITUTIONS FOR CHILDREN WITHOUT PARENTAL CARE: THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE INSTITUTIONAL CAREGIVERS

The best interest of the child should at all times be the primary guiding principle for the experts deciding matters of care. This ought to be implemented when the child is within the family, when the child is removed from the family, placed in institutional care, and when the child leaves the institutional care system. With the aim of contributing to the improvement of institutional care for children, and with the guiding principle of the child\u27s best interest, we have conducted a research project that included institutional caregivers (N=71) from all of Croatia\u27s 14 public institutions for children without parental care. The aim of the project was to determine the potential held by these institutions and the possibility of improving institutional care for children, with a view to preserve the best interest of the child, and from the point of view of the institutional caregiver. The data were collected by means of an open-ended questionnaire, and were processed using qualitative thematic analysis. The findings indicate that the institutional caregivers recognize certain positive aspects of the psychosocial climate - i.e. the state of interpersonal affairs, the institution\u27s space and activities, the institution\u27s surroundings and its community - as potential sources of improvement of care which could could be activated and could thus enhance the quality of provided care. Additionally, the institutional caregivers consider their working conditions as an area that requires improvement, as it would contribute to the provision of high-quality professional care and support to the children in their custody. Finally, there ought to be more work in the areas of transforming the institutions into the "family-like" type of accommodation, and in the general quality of the institutional psychosocial climate. All of this ought to be achieved keeping in mind the key aim of preserving the best interest of the child which is being placed into institutional care

Apical endosomes isolated from kidney collecting duct principal cells lack subunits of the proton pumping ATPase.

Endocytic vesicles that are involved in the vasopressin-stimulated recycling of water channels to and from the apical membrane of kidney collecting duct principal cells were isolated from rat renal papilla by differential and Percoll density gradient centrifugation. Fluorescence quenching measurements showed that the isolated vesicles maintained a high, HgCl2-sensitive water permeability, consistent with the presence of vasopressin-sensitive water channels. They did not, however, exhibit ATP-dependent luminal acidification, nor any N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive ATPase activity, properties that are characteristic of most acidic endosomal compartments. Western blotting with specific antibodies showed that the 31- and 70-kD cytoplasmically oriented subunits of the vacuolar proton pump were not detectable in these apical endosomes from the papilla, whereas they were present in endosomes prepared in parallel from the cortex. In contrast, the 56-kD subunit of the proton pump was abundant in papillary endosomes, and was localized at the apical pole of principal cells by immunocytochemistry. Finally, an antibody that recognizes the 16-kD transmembrane subunit of oat tonoplast ATPase cross-reacted with a distinct 16-kD band in cortical endosomes, but no 16-kD band was detectable in endosomes from the papilla. This antibody also recognized a 16-kD band in affinity-purified H+ ATPase preparations from bovine kidney medulla. Therefore, early endosomes derived from the apical plasma membrane of collecting duct principal cells fail to acidify because they lack functionally important subunits of a vacuolar-type proton pumping ATPase, including the 16-kD transmembrane domain that serves as the proton-conducting channel, and the 70-kD cytoplasmic subunit that contains the ATPase catalytic site. This specialized, non-acidic early endosomal compartment appears to be involved primarily in the hormonally induced recycling of water channels to and from the apical plasma membrane of vasopressin-sensitive cells in the kidney collecting duct

Glucose transporters in the mammalian blood cells

Glucose is the main source of metabolic energy for various cellular functions, and thus plays a central role in supporting intermediary metabolism and cellular homeostasis. Since plasma membrane is impermeable to glucose, its cellular uptake is mediated by two distinct processes via specific glucose transporter proteins that belong to the family of solute carriers (SLC); the SLC2 family members, GLUTs (glucose transporters), are sodium-independent facilitators of the glucose transport, whereas the SLC5 family members, SGLTs (sodium and glucose transporters) mediate the secondary-active sodium- glucose cotransport. Until now, 14 GLUTs and 12 SGLTs isoforms have been identified in humans of which 5 GLUTs and none SGLTs were detected in the mammalian blood cells. Detailed physiological function, precise mechanism of transport, substrates affinity, exact three-dimensional structures, and a precise tissue distribution of most GLUTs in various mammalian organs, including blood, have been poorly explored. In this review we will focus on GLUTs in the mammalian blood cells, where the data on their expression and functional roles are contradictory or largely missing. Since many GLUTs are associated with diabetes, and are up-regulated in cancers, it is undoubtedly important to further investigate GLUTs expression in different organs/tissues, including the blood cells. Understanding the complexity of glucose homeostasis that includes knowledge about tissue distribution and function of GLUTs, as well as the signaling pathways that regulate glucose metabolism, may help to develop new therapeutic strategies to target specific diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, some autoimmunity diseases, and cancer

Glucose transporters in the mammalian blood cells

Glucose is the main source of metabolic energy for various cellular functions, and thus plays a central role in supporting intermediary metabolism and cellular homeostasis. Since plasma membrane is impermeable to glucose, its cellular uptake is mediated by two distinct processes via specific glucose transporter proteins that belong to the family of solute carriers (SLC); the SLC2 family members, GLUTs (glucose transporters), are sodium-independent facilitators of the glucose transport, whereas the SLC5 family members, SGLTs (sodium and glucose transporters) mediate the secondary-active sodium- glucose cotransport. Until now, 14 GLUTs and 12 SGLTs isoforms have been identified in humans of which 5 GLUTs and none SGLTs were detected in the mammalian blood cells. Detailed physiological function, precise mechanism of transport, substrates affinity, exact three-dimensional structures, and a precise tissue distribution of most GLUTs in various mammalian organs, including blood, have been poorly explored. In this review we will focus on GLUTs in the mammalian blood cells, where the data on their expression and functional roles are contradictory or largely missing. Since many GLUTs are associated with diabetes, and are up-regulated in cancers, it is undoubtedly important to further investigate GLUTs expression in different organs/tissues, including the blood cells. Understanding the complexity of glucose homeostasis that includes knowledge about tissue distribution and function of GLUTs, as well as the signaling pathways that regulate glucose metabolism, may help to develop new therapeutic strategies to target specific diseases, such as diabetes mellitus, some autoimmunity diseases, and cancer

Minimisation of Generation Variability of a Group of Wind Plants

Minimisation of variability of energy delivered from a group of wind plants into the power system using portfolio theory approach was studied. One of the assumptions of that theory is Gaussian distribution of the sample, which is not satisfied in case of wind generation. Therefore, optimisation of a “portfolio” of plants with different goal functions was studied. It was supposed that a decision on distribution of a fixed amount of generation capacity to be installed among a set of geographical locations with known wind statistics is to be made with minimised variability of generation as a goal. In that way the statistical cancellation of variability would be used in the best possible manner. This article is a brief report on results of such an investigation. An example of nine locations in Croatia was used. These locations’ wind statistics are known from historic generation data

Statistical Properties of Electricity Generation from a Large System of Wind Plants and Demand for Fast Regulation

Experimental data of total wind generation, recorded at 5 minute intervals and published by the Bonneville Power Administration for the years 2007 to 2013, were analyzed on a year by year basis. All data were normalized to total installed power of wind plants. Statistical distribution functions were obtained for the following wind generation-related quantities: total generation as percentage of total installed capacity; change in total generation power in 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, and 60 minutes as percentage of total installed capacity; duration of intervals with total generated power, expressed as percentage of total installed capacity, lower than certain pre-specified level. The statistical distributions obtained from the data were used to devise simple, yet accurate, theoretical models. The models presented here can be utilized in analyses related to power system economics/policy, because they describe availability of wind energy resource in simple statistical terms relevant to interactions of wind generation with electricity system, and electricity markets. After a brief display of the models, the article concentrates on static properties of the observed system’s electricity generation related to its capacity credit, as well as on dynamic properties related to the demand for fast regulation (i.e., secondary and fast tertiary reserve). Both properties are important for technical planning of future electricity systems, as well as rational design of policy measures